A Cage of Bone
by chocolatula
Summary: What else is there to protect our hearts but a cage of bone? Sometimes it takes just a little time to discover how much we should appreciate that protective barrier, that shelter, for it doesn't take much to send it crashing down. EriSol.
1. The Prologue

**A Cage of Bone.**

What else is there to protect our hearts but a cage of bone? Sometimes it takes just a little time to discover how much we should appreciate that protective barrier, that shelter, for it doesn't take much to send it crashing down.

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Prologue.  
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A young boy named Eridan Ampora, no older than 4 years of age stood firmly planted to the ground, his petit fists clenched up into little balls causing his nails to dig into his soft-skinned palm. An echo of shattering glass, yells and shouts had made themselves clearly audible for him to hear, hell, for his neighbours to hear. He had no desire or need to place his ear up and against the door of his room to hear what they were arguing about, he had no desire to even know what they were arguing about. He wished he could drown himself in silence but it was impossible. He sighed shakily, his breath hitching as he dragged his feet to his velvet bed sheets supported by his oak wood bed stands, crawling under the covers and holding onto them tight as a form of protection. His vision went blur, choking on his breath as he sobbed silently. He would've cried himself to sleep if he _could _sleep through all this noise. He had never been a heavy sleeper or even a slightly average sleeper. The sound of lightly pelting drizzle would cause him to jolt from his sleep if it pattered against the roof and window panes. It was twisted his nerves, his nights growing sleepless and exhausted. This was unfortunately something he would have to get used to.

A young boy, no older than 6 years of age sat silently in court, watching the two of his parents fall under a deadly glare with each other as if one were prey and the other were predator. The question was which was which. They hadn't gotten along with each other any better after the big argument they had a couple of years ago. He supposed it could've been his fault for not calming them down and being there for them, he supposed it was never any of their faults and only he was to blame for this. They were never close with him, not a single word would leave their lips and direct towards him but that didn't bother him anymore. It all just stopped becoming something he cared about in the end. But why was he unable to stop his tear ducts from flooding with salty, warm tears at that moment. He didn't _just_ lose them. He had lost them both a long time ago.

A young boy, no older than 15 years of age walked grudgingly in the hallway, bumping into people carelessly as he strolled around with a blank, pained face. His cheek had been bruised under the eyes, shaded by the thick frames of his glasses. Dried blood stained his bottom lip, a slight swell cautiously displaying itself upon his lip. His eyes darted down to his feet as he quietly exited the building, clutching onto his backpack's strap tightly, having lost his money to a group of violent boys. His parents never gave him anything but money so he could feed himself and attend school. It seems like he won't be having any dinner for some time. Not loosening his grip, he began walking back home. No one waited for him, he waited for no one.

A young boy, no older than 18 years of age stood in front of his bathroom mirror, his tuff of hair dyed purple and gelled back neatly to compliment his face structure. He glared into the mirror behind his glasses, his gaze dead serious as he opened his mouth to begin practicing his charisma and speech. Tonight would be his graduation from high school, a chance to move on and start new. Tonight was the night he would let out his fury within his speech, proving to the entire world; or at least the entire student body in his grade that he was better than all of them, that this would probably be the happiest moment of his life. Fucking off and starting new. Tonight was the night that Eridan Ampora became a new man, for better or for worse.

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	2. The Collision

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Bee-_

A tired, dazed hand slammed against the bedside table, scratching his fingertips around against the wooden surface and trying to rake in his phone from the heap of useless shit that he had sprawled out on the maple-wood table. Usually that would consist of his glasses; magazines on the latest technology: yes, he enjoyed those sort of topics, what a nerd; keys: he'd be pretty lost without these, better not bother them too much; empty cereal bowls, empty or half-filled glasses of water or soda: procrastination, what could you do? And also his lava lamp which he had gotten as a present from his dads for his recent 19th birthday. Once he successfully dragged in his phone from the bunch, he flipped it open and initiated the call, groaning his first words in.

"Hello?" He propped his shoulder onto the side, sitting up and leaning up against the bed rest. He let out a little yawn and stretch to wake himself up a little more.

"Hey, wake up you blistering idiot." A loud voice echoed from the other line. Sollux slapped his hand onto the bridge of his nose, rubbing it in agony. He hadn't expected a call from Karkat this early; this early translating to 5 in the fucking morning.

"KK, what the fuck? Have you ever conthidered that people might be _athleep _at thith time?" He growled lightly, not bothering to hide his lisp like he usually would when he's wide awake.

"Shove that tongue up your ass and stop lisping you shit stain, you were the one who told me- no forced me to obey your so-called righteous and almighty fucking commands and wake your sorry ass up so you wouldn't be late for that test you said you had. Suck it up and stop being an ungrateful and moody bitch." He snapped back, causing Sollux to furrow his eyebrows in pain. Why did Karkat have to be such a twit this early in the morning? He supposed he had grown used to this sort of 'friendly' treatment from Karkat.

He swallowed in his lisp, clearing his throat and rubbing his eye with his free hand. Twisting around so his legs were hanging off the side of the bed, his feet lazily slipped into his comfy, morning slippers. "Yea, yea, thanks a whole bunch, asshole." He chuckled lightly after hearing the obvious groan from the other end. "I'm getting ready, stop bothering me now."

"Oh thank God, he's getting ready, someone call the media. This should be reported, holy shit." Sollux could almost bet on his life that Karkat had rolled his eyes through the phone.

"Alright, oh my God, shut the fuck up and let me take a shower." He didn't feel up for one of their so-called friendly arguments so he thought this would help shut him up long enough to utter a bye and hang up. It did.

He tossed the phone carelessly onto his bed and blanket, dragging his feet lazily across the room and leaning against the bathroom door's frame, turning the light on. The bathroom glowed with life in comparison to his dark, sleepy bedroom. He didn't get much sleep, only an hour in fact. Although he should be used to this by now considering his night owl trait, he was still pretty drowsy and that couldn't really be helped. He was only human after all. He kicked off his slippers before entering the bathroom properly, they weren't really needed in the first place but he thought they were comfortable never the less, and began undressing without caring to close and/or lock the door. It wasn't like anyone would barge into his room at 5 in the morning. He didn't exactly have a roommate, either.

He stepped into the shower compartment, turning the water on as it pelted and soaked against his skin, a fresh steam seething itself through and fogging up any glass that may be in the room. It felt so warm and woke him up from his crisp, dazed self, letting him sigh in pleasure. After what felt like not long enough, he walked onto the shower mat, grabbing two towels. One was loosely wrapped around his waist with one hand, hanging down a little but not enough to reveal anything and the other being gripped by his other free hand and ruffling against his hair, drying its messy yet limp and damp structure.

His slightly blurry vision darted around the room for his wardrobe, eventually settling on white and black fuzz that happened to be moving around in his room. Its tail wagged like the hand of a ticking metronome, slowly and heavily swaying from side to side. Sollux rubbed his eyes, reaching to grab his glasses and putting them on, facing the creature again and smiling.

"Hey, Bicyclops." He laughed, ruffling the top of the Dalmatian's head. He had no idea why he named his dog that but it seemed like the best idea when he received him at the age of 14. What could he do but just play along? He thought it was still a pretty epic name so he wasn't going to start complaining like a little spoiled brat anytime soon.

The spotted animal stuck out its tongue, slobbering licks all over his hand and barking in happiness. Sollux quickly placed his fingertip to his mouth, hushing the dog. Bicyclops stopped after another bark, its tail still wagging like a wrecking ball. Sollux swore that thing could knock down a building while wagging at that pace. It was a miracle how he managed to persuade that if kept under tight observation, he was allowed to keep the dog in his dorm; that and a little bit of bribery from his dads. He smiled, giving one last pet before kicking at his little chew toy as a gesture for the dog to move along and play on his own for now.

While Bicyclops began chewing on his ball toy, Sollux quickly got changed into his warm, crisp clothes. He continued drying his hair, tilting his head ever so slightly to the side and flicking the switch on his darkened room, a flash of light buzzing through his eyes as he squinted. He made his way over to his window, opening up the shades and looked out as fresh rays of gentle sunlight seeped through the glass pane. He must've wasted quite a bit of time for it to be dawn already. He stepped over to his laptop, opening it up and turning it on. It took a while before the black screen was enveloped with white as he typed in his password. He glanced at the time, furrowing his eyebrows.

_7:02 AM_

"What the fuck was I doing in the shower…?" He mumbled to himself, rolling his eyes and stepping back. He began packing the laptop up into his nearby book bag. He wouldn't be caught dead without his trusty techno-shit by his side at all times.

He crashed onto the bed, sitting up after a bit of pointless lying down. As he shoved on his shoes lazily, not even bothering to separate and pick what shoes he happened to obtain, he winded up having two different coloured shoes. He never really cared about appearance so it was all good. He slung the strap over his shoulder, getting up and reaching for a leash and collar. Strapping it onto an overexcited Bicyclops, he ruffled his head and shoved his keys in his hoodie pocket, walking out of his dorm and locking the door. On days where he had to leave his dorm and isn't allowed to bring his dog along with him, he would ask Karkat to take care of him. Sure, Karkat would make a big fuss of how much it was such a pain in the ass to look after the dog but Sollux shrugged it off, leaving Karkat with no choice. It had become a thing between them and sooner or later, Karkat expected it most of the time and didn't mention it anymore. He must've figured it was something not worth arguing over if he wasn't going to win.

No one ever won against Sollux. Sollux was such a boss.

As he neared Karkat's dorm, his fist was already curled up into a ball, standing right in front of the door as the spotted dog began jumping against the door in glee. He was always happy to see Karkat since Karkat had grown fonder of him over the months. Sollux's knuckles began clicking with the wooden door, a knock emitting once or twice as he stood patiently. If you listened closely enough, you could hear the few grumbles and mumbles Karkat had already begun making, dragging his feet towards the door and swinging it open. He blinked his crusted eyes and squinted, his nose scrunching up in annoyance from the bright light in the hallway smashing through his eyes. When his vision focused, his face twisted into a grimace, letting out an exasperated sigh of frustration. This left Sollux chuckling slightly, offering the leash to Karkat.

"You know the drill." He nodded at Karkat, earning a glare from him.

"I've known this drill long enough for it to drill a hole in my head. Maybe I should drill my fucking fist into your face, bet that'd shut you up." Karkat spat, snatching the leash from Sollux's grip.

Sollux rolled his eyes behind his darkened glasses, hiding his mismatched eyes. It was rare that people would look him into both his eyes instead of one, most of the time, people would just stare at the bridge of his nose thinking he wouldn't notice but of course, he did. He had inherited his Heterochromia from his biological parents, whom he never got the chance to meet nor did he really care to meet anymore. It was the very few people like Karkat that would look at him dead in both eyes and not seem to care.

"I'd just adore the thought of staying here and talking with you all day long but I've got a test to take in…" he glanced at his wristwatch, his eyebrows knitting together as his eyes began to focus behind the lens of his glasses, "Ah shit, in 10 minutes. I got to go, KK! Take care of him for me, bye!" And with that, Sollux jolted through the corridor, leaving a dazed and grumpy Karkat there to yawn. He shook his head, sighing and tugged at the leash, glaring at the dog.

"Come on then, let's get inside so I can get some more shut eye. Don't even think of sleeping next to me again, I won't have any of that. If you do, I will personally shove a stray cat up your sorry ass so it can claw at your guts." He grumbled as Bicyclops barked in response, rushing in and allowing Karkat to close- or rather _slam _the door shut.

Sollux's feet tapped hurriedly out of the elevator, rushing through the doors of the lounge/meet-up area. He reached outside of the building, his glasses glinting through the Sun's harsh rays. He decided for now he had to restrain himself from any complaining and run as fast as he could through campus and into the right building. As he picked up the pace slightly, dashing, he began running out of breath and got dizzy. He blinked his eyes, looking to the ground before closing them and…

_BANG!_

He rammed headfirst into someone. Two loud and audible groans were dragged out of their mouths, both on the floor and rubbing their heads. Sollux eyed the victim of his carelessness, receiving a cold, hard glare back. It wasn't like Karkat's glare. No, it was something else but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Watch where you're going, you lightheaded twit!" He lashed out, getting up and dusting off his, in Sollux's opinion, horrible sense of clothing and wandered off into the opposite direction.

He glared at the man walking off, standing up himself. "What's his problem?" He uttered to himself before pacing quickly into the direction of the Advanced Technology lab, in hope that the little bump didn't rearrange his brain cells and that he could still pass the test that they had in store for him.

Let alone participate if he could manage to get there on time.


	3. The Confrontation

A little tapping sound was being created at a quickened pace through fingertips and a keyboard colliding together. Sollux had made himself comfortable at the nearest Starbucks café, typing into his laptop ferociously in boredom, his caramel macchiato sitting by his side. Its fresh aroma made anyone who passed by want a little taste. Unfortunately for them, it was for Sollux and Sollux only. The afternoon sun shined brightly down against him, glinting against his screen and causing Sollux to tilt it slightly so he could see well. While tipping the screen, his eyes caught glimpse of his faithful companion and a little grumpy man whom happened to be his best friend, both making their way towards him. He smirked in acknowledgement as Karkat sat his merry self onto the chair opposite, his famous glare playing against Sollux's smug grin. After a quick entrance into the small building and an order of hot, extra-large espresso, he sat down and leaned against the table with his arms, the leash tied against the arm of the chair so Bicyclops wouldn't run off.

"How was the test? Did you manage to not fuck it up as badly as you do with everything else possible?" He inquired, his eyebrows furrowing while the Dalmatian lied down against the chair, tired out from the walk Karkat had given him. He picked up his espresso and began blowing against the steam seeping out of the hot liquid.

"Shut up, KK, I most certainly do not fuck everything up as easily as you think I do. To answer your question, though, I did pretty well considering I knew most of this shit before even entering this god damn university. I'm still waiting on the day they teach me something I don't know. This really can't be all there is to it." Sollux gave out a little sigh, his eyes looking up from the laptop for a brief moment before being sucked back into the monitor. He took his macchiato and began sipping it, licking the foam off his lips.

"If you knew the subject so undoubtedly well, why didn't you take something considerably more challenging for your omnipotent little mind? It would save a lot of breath from you annoying the ever-loving shit out of me and also maybe pose as some form of challenge, therefore being somewhat entertaining to you. You know what that means? It means you can start leaving me alone. All in favour of that being a good idea, say I. Fucking I." His espresso had been set down in front of him as he turned it around with the handle so his hands would be huddled up around the cup's warmth.

Before Sollux could say another word, a dash of purple and blue had flickered through his eyesight as he glanced up from the screen for a moment. He squinted his eyes at the man making his way over to the coffee shop to try and make out who it was. Upon recognition, he grimaced in horror. Karkat raised an eyebrow, turning around on his chair and looking for a bit before turning back and giving Sollux a grouchy, questioning face.

"Who could possibly get the honour of having you look away from technology even for the slightest second?" He muttered out, his thumb pointing over at the guy who had eventually sat himself on the table opposite them, right in front of Sollux's line of sight.

"Some asshole I bumped into earlier, he doesn't really matter so don't bother having any introductions flying in." He grumbled, looking down at his coffee and glaring at it instead of the screen, Karkat, or the victim of his clumsy actions.

"I wasn't planning on having any friendly gestures coming through. He isn't worthy of my presence let alone knowing my name." Karkat picked up his cup of espresso, blowing into it before carefully savouring the bitter taste, a little burn playing along but not enough for him to spit it out.

Sollux couldn't keep himself from glancing at the strange man every once in a while throughout his conversation with Karkat. He began looking slightly decent to Sollux's eyes, hell he had a pretty boy face and a good-looking body from what he could see. He had brought out a chocolate chip Frappuccino as his order, stirring the cream around before noticing Sollux's stare, his eyes narrowing at him. Sollux was quick to have his eyes dart back to his screen but that didn't stop the man from ascending from his chair and strolling towards their table. He stood at the side, his hands slamming against the table which caused it to vibrate along with the drinks as Sollux's and Karkat's eyes shot up to look at him.

"May I know why you seem so fuckin' inclined to stare at me?" He managed to hiss past his lips, directing his question towards Sollux. Karkat just watched this entire thing unravel, not as interested as he probably should be.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Sollux had simply shrugged, not wanting to get in any particular argument with some guy he bumped into earlier. It wasn't worth it.

"You know perfectly well what the fuck I'm talkin' about, don't play pretend with me you ignoramus. Also congratulations on completely messin' up my head for the entire day. Do you know how much of a headache I had after that horrifyin' encounter with your limp, frail ass?" He barked back at Sollux, causing him to flinch slightly.

"Woah, calm down. Talk about a complete and utter drama queen. Suck it up and take it like the man you are, if you really are a man." He rolled his eyes behind the frames before noticing something. The guy was staring straight at him.

Straight. At. Him.

Sollux shook it off, it was nothing special. He kept telling himself that considering how much of an asshole this guy was being. "I don't want any fucking trouble. I rather you just forget about the incident we had so we can both carry on with our lives. I have no interest on earning a new enemy, especially one like you." Sollux sneered.

Before the man could retort, Karkat stood up and pointed at him. "Listen here you asswipe, if I have to take another fucking second of you two moronic baboons arguing about who's in the wrong or right here, I will blow a nut and shove it up both of your asses in time for a daily detonation of your internal fucking organs. It would cause you both an immense amount of pain that it would have me laughing so hard, my guts would do flips and shit. Don't. Test. Me." He spat, pointing at Sollux as well, his eyes piercing angrily through his spectacles and into his eyes.

There was a pin-drop silence, the only one seated being Sollux. A sneeze had sounded, followed by a sniffle. Karkat and Sollux both eyed the man who sneezed again, his face scrunching up as he covered his mouth and nose with his hands. He looked down at the dog that was lying close by to his feet, grimacing in horror at him.

"What the fuck is that? I-" another sneeze, "- I'm allergic to fur, God damn it!" He demanded, pointing at Bicyclops in a way of showing blatant disgust.

"_That _would be the best thing that ever graced this god damn planet with his presence. At least in comparison to _you._" Sollux scorned, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose so it wouldn't fall off. This earned a glower from him.

They commenced another session of pointless arguing followed by a few sneezes here and there, leaving Karkat rubbing his temples in aggravation. He had had enough of this nonsense; he won't just stand by and let them annoy him senselessly. Grabbing his cup of still hot espresso, he splashed the two men with it as equally as he possibly could, allowing for black brown trails of coffee to drip down their faces. This had them both caught off guard, Sollux eyeing his laptop which had also been affected by the splash of caffeine. It was ruined and now he had to fix it. This set him steaming in discontent, glaring angrily towards Karkat. Without spitting out another word, he slammed his laptop screen down and shoved it in his bag. Taking the leash off the chair and jerking it so Bicyclops would get up, he left hastily, Bicyclops following happily along in contrast to his unhappy master.

Karkat rolled his eyes and set the cup down, his eyes resting on the man that stood by him. He groaned as he extended his hand, doing exactly the opposite of what he had said earlier.

"Karkat. That was Sollux just now, for your information. Try not to forget our names; I won't be repeating myself for your ignorant, sad excuse for a brain to comprehend." He scoffed, facing away in disdain considering he wasn't exactly looking forward to holding an actual conversation with this asshole.

He stared at Karkat's hand for a while, not bothering to take it as he swiped a tissue from their table instead and began dabbing it against his face and clothes. "Eridan Ampora." He muttered in response, not really pleased about the situation either and ignoring the comment about his brain. "Thanks a whole fuckin' lot by the way, not like these clothes cost a lot. Not at all."

Karkat eyed a bulky bag on Eridan's table by the abandoned Frappuccino. It was a camera bag. "Are you in the photography course or something?" He questioned. "Not exactly the smartest idea to leave that on the table with your back facing it." He added on, nodding towards the encased camera.

Eridan looked back to his camera and beverage, walking over to his own table and taking both in his hands. "I'm not in Photography, this is sort a just a past-time hobby a mine." He muttered, returning to Karkat's table and seating himself down on a chair that had no coffee splattered on it.

Karkat sat down in his own chair, his elbows propped up on the table as his chin rested against his knuckles. "Humour me; I'm genuinely interested in your life now. Sarcasm completely intended considering I seriously have nothing better to do than to sit by some hipster douchenozzle and listen in on his personal life."

"Well, Kar, I'm-" He started off before Karkat promptly cut him off.

"Woah, woah, _woah. _Who said you could call me that? I don't recall ever giving you the permission to be on such friendly terms that I require some stupid nickname that involves the first three letters of my name."

"_As I was sayin',_" he glared, ignoring him, "I'm in Applied Ethics for Art an' Design and I have Performance and Visual practices on the side."

"Isn't that all like… the same shit with some fancy ass names?" He grumbled, not very interested like he said he was and sighing in boredom.

"I'll have you know that it isn't. Take that as a little life lesson for _your _sad excuse of a brain." He retorted, grabbing his Frappuccino and getting up from his chair, pushing the seat back a bit. "I'll be taking my leave now, _Kar_. Farewell." He nodded his head at him as a somewhat friendly gesture, entering Starbucks for a while before leaving with a newspaper under his arm, waving.

Karkat didn't bother waving his hand back and just watched him leave, his face bewildered from his new found 'friend'. "God… I think Sollux has finally found someone worth killing if not himself, for once." He murmured to himself, getting up and taking leave.


End file.
